For Stylists: 5 Steps to Build your Clientele FAST

If you haven’t read our first five tips for building your personal brand, you’ll definitely want to read them here. Once you understand how important your use of social media is for both your business and personal life, start here to learn how to use it to build your clientele.

The steps below will teach you how to build, connect with, and grow your client base online. This will not only keep them coming back and telling their friends about you, it will get your work in front of more eyes than would ever be possible without the internet. The best part… It’s SIMPLE! And, it can be fun.

Step 1: Create business specific profiles on all of the social media platforms you use. Build your clientele online to build it in real life.

Create a Facebook page for your work, an Instagram profile for your work, a twitter profile for your work, etc.. Basically, any social media platform that you know how to use, create a destination specific to your work. This will give clients and future clients a place to learn about you and the work you do. This will also give you multiple ways to build and connect with your clients. And most of all, it’s a professional way to show off your work and build your clientele.

You don’t have to solely post photos of your work. Share fun quotes or memes that make sense with the type of work you do. You can share articles that your followers might find interesting, etc. Make sure that anything you post on these profiles is professional and fits your style and personality. Also be sure that it looks pleasing to the eye. People come to you to look great, so make sure that your accounts look great as well.

Step 2: Create a business card that lists your social accounts and contact info. Give one to EVERY client.

Your business card doesn’t have to be boring and old school. In fact, you’ll better be able to build your clientele if it is attractive and represents you well. Pinterest has tons of amazing business card ideas that are modern and stylish. Make sure it represents your style. Most importantly, make sure it lists the following information:

How they can find you on ALL social media accounts where you post your work

Step 3: ALWAYS take before and after photos. Post them when your clients approve.

Ask your clients if you can post their before and after pictures on your social accounts. This shows off your work and makes your clients feel special. You may even want to say a little something about why you like working with that client to make more personal. This can build your clientele quickly by showing potential clients how they will be treated at your salon.

Always ask for permission before posting. You may even want to have something written that they can sign saying you can use photos of them. Or, you can simply let them know you’ll send them an email and they need to reply to it before you post the images. This will ensure that you’re safe from anyone saying you used photos of them without permission.

This is such a powerful part of your business and can build your clientele faster than anything else. Here’s why:

It makes your clients feel special.

It gets you connected to your clients on social media. This is especially great for your business because your clients will continue to see your work on their social feeds and think about you often. Therefore, when they need a service, they’ll think of you.

It gets your work in front of your friends and your clients’ friends. This is the most powerful part of this process. Your work is not only being seen by people you are connected to on your social accounts. When you tag your client in the photo, this also gets your work in front of the people your clients are connected to on social media. This creates social proof of your talents. Social proof is the most powerful tool for your business. When we are looking for a new stylist (or even a restaurant) we generally trust friends over anything else. Just look at how often people are using the “looking for recommendations” tool on Facebook. Think of every before and after post as a recommendation for your services. And, that recommendation is being sent to all of your clients’ friends and family.

Step 4: ALWAYS offer to schedule the next appointment.

Not everyone will take you up on this, but always offer. Not only will this build your clientele, but it will help you to keep them coming back. This can make it much easier to get repeat customers because they don’t have to remember to call or go online and schedule.

Most likely the salon you work at has a system for reminding clients of their appointments. When they’ve set up their future appointments, they’ll be much more likely to come in more often. Hopefully, they’ll schedule an appointment and give you permission to post about them on social media. When you do, be sure your post includes: a thank you for coming in, a thank you for rescheduling, and a comment about your excitement to see them again. Talk about blowing them away! All while letting others know that your clients liked your services enough to come back.

Step 5: Connect with your clients and anyone else who interacts with you on social media.

We can’t stress enough how important this step is. Make sure you reply to any comments, messages or posts on your accounts. This will let people know that you care about your customers and that you’re thorough.

If anyone posts about you or your work on their personal accounts that you’re following, comment and thank them. You can also reach out to clients to thank them for coming to you. And, you can see how they’re doing if you haven’t heard from them in a while. This is especially nice if someone didn’t take you up on Step 4. If they didn’t reschedule an appointment, contacting them in a casual way on social media can feel more genuine and comfortable than calling. You can be really creative with how you connect. Just make sure it’s real, kind, professional, and often. Just make sure it’s not too often… You don’t want to look needy or creepy in any way. As a general rule of thumb, each time you connect with someone ask yourself, “what would I think if my stylist sent this to me?”.

How do you like to connect with your clients? Help out your fellow stylists by posting your tips on our Facebook page! And if you haven’t already, make sure to give us a like while you’re there.